Kimberly Road is the Highway of Perpetual Construction

I used to think the title belonged to Interstate 84 in Boise as you exited at Broadway and drove into downtown.  Methodical and slow aren’t synonyms, but both words described the project.  Patience isn’t my strong suit, and I always dreaded threading the needle on my way to the Capitol or a museum.  I’ve discovered my impatience is fueled by the time of day I drive.  Traffic is light going to work, and rarely is there an issue.  But when I go home, it’s a different story.

You Can't Avoid the Mess

I don’t always take the same route home.  It depends on where I have to go after work.  I do my errands then because not much is open when I’m driving through town early mornings.  Kimberly Road in Twin Falls is a pain in the bottom.  I know, I know, the work is important.  It doesn’t mean I enjoy the drive.  We can ask why it wasn’t done right the first time, but most projects we see are related to population growth, and what we’re seeing wouldn’t have made sense in 1985.

The Grass Isn't Always Greener

Give Idaho and local cities credit.  None of this is done to win votes (I suspect disgruntled drivers aren’t thrilled), but back east, I believe that’s the case.  When I lived in Upstate New York, I was under the impression construction was often done to win votes.  Even if the work wasn’t union-controlled, prevailing wage laws propped up a constituency that was expected to vote for big-spending Democrats.  I hear a lot of complaints about how things work in Idaho, but if you haven’t experienced eastern graft (and you shouldn’t), believe me, this could be a lot worse.